Newsweek has a good summary of Steve Jobs “jeremiad” (available here) against DRM in digital music:
Jobs is far from the first insider to argue for this. His essay is only the latest contribution to a growing movement to drop DRM from legally purchased songs.

The RIAA’s response today seems to have missed the mark:
Jobs did mention the possibility of Apple licensing FairPlay to competitors in his letter, only to dismiss the option out of hand due to Apple’s concern that such a move would inevitable lead to leaks of proprietary technology. “Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players,” Jobs wrote. The RIAA dismissed such concerns in its statement: “We have no doubt that a technology company as sophisticated and smart as Apple could work with the music community to make [interoperability] happen.”

In unrelated news …

Shrinking Physical Space Boosts Independent Digital Sales
Just recently, The Shins (Sub Pop) scored a second-place finish on the US-based album charts, a result that included strong digital album sales. Overall album sales for the group totaled 119,000, of which 35,000 were digital. Those percentages are increasingly common for independent artists, and shrinking floor space at big box retailers will further the trend.

Tags: